Request for a preliminary ruling from the Raad van State (Netherlands) lodged on 27 April 2017 — M.G. Tjebbes and Others v Minister van Buitenlandse Zaken

(Case C-221/17)

Language of the case: Dutch

Referring court

Raad van State

Parties to the main proceedings

Appellants: M.G. Tjebbes, G.J.M. Koopman, E. Saleh Abady, L. Duboux

Defendant: Minister van Buitenlandse Zaken

Questions referred

Must Articles 20 and 21 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, in the light of, inter alia, Article 7 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, be interpreted — in view of the absence of an individual assessment, based on the principle of proportionality, with regard to the consequences of the loss of nationality for the situation of the person concerned from the point of view of EU law — as precluding legislation such as that in issue in the main proceedings, which provides:

(a)    that an adult, who is also a national of a third country, loses, by operation of law, the nationality of his or her Member State, and consequently loses citizenship of the Union, on the ground that, for an uninterrupted period of 10 years, that person had his or her principal residence abroad and outside the European Union, although there are possibilities for interrupting that 10-year period;

(b)    that under certain circumstances a minor loses, by operation of law, the nationality of his or her Member State, and consequently loses citizenship of the Union, as a consequence of the loss of the nationality of his or her parent, as referred to under (a) above?

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